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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29738544">Connected at the Heart (and also the Pinky Finger)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AughtPunk/pseuds/AughtPunk'>AughtPunk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Echo of the Larkspur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A book not even published yet, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Contains Minor Spoilers for Echo of the Larkspur, Fluff, Help I'm Writing My Own Fanfic, M/M, Red String of Fate, Two Dorks Finding Each Other, pure fluff, why am I doing this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:07:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29738544</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AughtPunk/pseuds/AughtPunk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ciro never once wondered who was on the other side of his red string.</p><p>Why would he? He didn’t care for romance, for sex, or for anything that potentially came with a relationship. There was always something else to do. Another problem to fix. Mysteries to solve. And then after the Larkspur Incident he had his own recovery to focus on. And, as he would bitterly think late in the night, it wasn’t like whoever was on the other side of the string ever came looking for him.</p><p>So Ciro lived. He recovered. He got a job at SOL Inc’s Iris Colony on Ceres. And as he touched down on Ceres he made a rather shocking discovery: his red string had grown taunt. </p><p>Ciro immediately had a panic attack in the space port’s bathroom. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dr. Ciro Kwakkenbos &amp; Sage Marron, Dr. Ciro Kwakkenbos/Sage Marron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Connected at the Heart (and also the Pinky Finger)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ciro never once wondered who was on the other side of his red string.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why would he? He didn’t care for romance, for sex, or for anything that potentially came with a relationship. There was always something else to do. Another problem to fix. Mysteries to solve. And then after the Larkspur Incident he had his own recovery to focus on. And, as he would bitterly think late in the night, it wasn’t like whoever was on the other side of the string ever came looking for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Ciro lived. He recovered. He got a job at SOL Inc’s Iris Colony on Ceres. And as he touched down on Ceres he made a rather shocking discovery: his red string had grown taunt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro immediately had a panic attack in the space port’s bathroom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He then spent a very large amount of time moving about the colony, twisting his hand this way and that, making sure that it wasn’t just his imagination. No, the ethereal red string tied to his pinky finger no longer slumped like it used to. It was tight, almost as if the person on the other end was pulling it as hard as they could. The only hint Ciro had to who it belonged to was the fact that the string was being pulled down towards the center of the planet. Where Ciro’s new job was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Correction, where Ciro’s new job that he was currently running late for was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro shoved all thoughts of soul mates out of his head and hurried to SOL Inc’s headquarters, once again shoving romance aside for something a tad more urgent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I’m telling you Abeula, the string moved!</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Abuela looked up from her knitting at the panicking robot hovering in the air in front of her. “Are you sure, dear?”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Am I sure? Yes! Yes I am very sure! Look! It just moved again!”</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Sage twisted around in the air, held up by the many wires coming out of his back. The string moved as he did acting like a laser pointer aimed at whoever was on the other end. Thirty-five years he’d had the red string, and for thirty-five years it had done nothing. Now out of the blue it was moving and twitching like crazy, only growing tighter and tighter with every passing minute. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There there dear,” Abuela said with a sly smile, “no need to panic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I’m not panicking.</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Sage was panicking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, Sage was </span>
  <em>
    <span>freaking out</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Decades he’d wonder about that string and who was on the other side. His soul mate. It seemed unreal just thinking about it. What sort of being would have their soul connected to his. Also this implied that he himself had a soul which was a whole ‘nother kettle of fish to poach. Maybe he could discuss that with his soul mate? Sage twisted around once more in an attempt to track where the string was going.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Oh my God, that’s in the direction of the freight elevator! And look! It’s slowly moving down! They’re coming this way!</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Abuela tapped her free knitting needle against her chin. “Wasn’t your new caretaker supposed to arrive today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Who cares? This is slightly more important, Abuela!</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro stood in front of the lab doors doing everything possible to not look at his hand. He had a job to do after all. He couldn’t spend all day wandering around the colony trying to find the other end of his string. First he had to introduce himself to his superior, check out the A.I. they hired him to monitor, and then he could run around the colony like a chicken with its head cut off. Ciro pressed a button on the wall next to the closed doors and waited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Under the button a panel flipped over, revealing a tiny speaker. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go away.” Said the speaker. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh.” Ciro blinked. “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go. Get. Leave. I’m waiting for someone way more important than whatever you’re here for.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That, Ciro thought, was probably true. “I’m uh, I’m Dr. Ciro Kwakkenbos? I’m here to monitor the colony’s A.I. and--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” The voice said flatly, “You. Come in. I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The doors opened, revealing the inside of the main lab. Ciro walked in, eyeing the odd mismatched desks and museum-quality computers on each. The lab was empty save for two figures standing in the middle. One an old lady, and the other with wires coming out of its back and into the ceiling. That must be the A.I., Ciro thought, it must have a physical body. Yes as he got closer the figure’s silver-and-white body was pretty obvious wasn’t it. The robot seemed to be talking, waving its arms and bobbing its head, but Ciro couldn’t hear it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The old lady looked up and smiled at Ciro. “Ah! You must be Dr. Kwakkenbos!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The robot turned its head towards Ciro, the three lens on its faceplate glowing brightly. It gave him a small wave of its hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro, unsure of what else to do, waved back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both man and machine froze where they stood as they both noticed the ethereal red string connecting their hands at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then, acting as one, as full proof that their souls were meant to be entwined together, they both screamed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both man and machine had retreated to Sage’s apartment. His thick metal coils came up through a hole in the floor and trailed off into the kitchen where Sage was making Ciro a cup of coffee. Ciro, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch in the living room trying not to have a panic attack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His soulmate was a robot. An Alphabot. The same kind of super robot that almost killed him years ago. No matter how many times he looked down at the string it was still connected to Sage. His soulmate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, you don’t have to look that devastated.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro looked up at Sage, who was standing in front of him with the cup of coffee in his hands. The robot had taken his helmet off, revealing a human-like face with far too big eyes, a pointy useless nose, and a mouth just a little too small. He handed Ciro the cup of coffee. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not. I’m just.” Ciro delayed his train of thought by risking a small sip of the coffee. Sage had made it just how he liked it. Another power of the string, he supposed. “Suddenly it all makes sense. Why you never came looking for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hard to travel while I’m physically attached to the Iris Colony.” Sage took a seat next to Ciro. “Doesn’t explain why you never went looking for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was always...busy. Working. Experimenting. Studying.” Ciro shrugged. “Love never seemed important enough to go chasing through the galaxy for. Never expected to just...run into you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe the fates got fed up with the both of us taking so long and forced the issue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro flexed his hand. The string wobbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sage lifted his head, his chin-length white hair perfectly framing his face. “Red strings don’t always mean romantic. There’s plenty of platonic soulmates out there. Sometimes it’s not even that. It’s just about meeting someone who will help you become more of yourself. As you help them become more of themselves. So. Maybe we’ll be more like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Ciro whispered, risking a glance at Sage. “So now what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I see two options. One, we continue to work as coworkers on The Wireless Project and let whatever is destined to happen between is unfold naturally.” Sage smiled. “Or two, we get married right now and skip the wait. I think Ox is ordained.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ciro let out an ugly snort. “I don’t think I packed my best tux for the trip here. How about that first one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sage lifted up his hand and wiggled his pinky finger, causing the string between them to vibrate happily. “Deal.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you haven't heard, <a href="https://aughtpunk.com/2019/11/24/in-which-i-am-very-bored-at-a-psych-ward/">I've been going through some hard times</a>. Thank you everyone so much for your kudos and comments. They always help pick me up when things get dark. Really. Love you all.</p><p>If you enjoy my writing please check out my other fics or head to <a href="https://aughtpunk.com/want-to-help-out/">my website</a> for information on my non-fic writing and how to help me out while I'm putting my life back together.</p><p>Be sure to tag me as @AughtPunk on <a href="https://twitter.com/aughtpunk">Twitter,</a> <a href="http://aughtpunk.tumblr.com">Tumblr,</a> or <a href="https://www.pillowfort.social/AughtPunk">Pillowfort</a> if you want to say hi, or ever make any fan content of my work. No need to ask permission, art and fic is always welcomed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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